Brooke

I did an interest search for horses to find some good horse/riding communities (and got some freaky results. Search horses. I dare you.) and one of the comms that came up was stupidpetowners. Basically, it's a place to rant about stupid pet owners.

I read a few posts, thought about joining for all of thirty seconds, then walked away. Why? Because, while I'm sure a lot of people involved have good reasons for being part of the comm, communities like that at best constantly remind you about stuff that makes you mad and at worst are in a constant state of conflict. The entries I saw might have had some cathartic value, but there was nothing overly constructive. I wouldn't learn anything from being involved in and I wouldn't be happier for knowing the stuff that's discussed.

And I'm so proud of myself for recognizing I don't need it and resisting the urge to get involved.

oh yeah, that's one of those sites that will suck you in if you're not careful & it's a lot of people who are venting but that's about it

I was surprised to find how helpful communities for petlovers were though - I mean, in places like catlovers there might be some drama but really the number of users who get along astounds me. I hope you find (found?) a good horse community

Right. The good thing is that my best friend is a huge animal person, too (and a responsible animal person at that), so if something does get to me, I can just call her and vent. Interestingly enough, I was skimming the comm again and the "responsible pet owners" actually annoyed me more than the "stupid pet owners." Must be nice to feel superior to that many people...

I actually got distracted and quit looking for horse communities (gee, I really need to learn to tell stories in ways that make me sound better, don't I?), but I need to check again. I joined a dog message board when I first got Alley, and while I eventually left it because of a lot of drama, I learned a lot. On the plus side, there are a few good horse people I can talk to IRL, so a comm would just be icing on the cake.